Ronaldo's red card, Liverpool beat PSG and the best of the week in soccer

Manuel Queimadelos Alonso / Getty Images

Cristano Ronaldo of Juventus reacts after his red card during the Group H match of the UEFA Champions League between Valencia and Juventus at Estadio Mestalla on September 19, 2018 in Valencia, Spain.

Cristano Ronaldo of Juventus reacts after his red card during the Group H match of the UEFA Champions League between Valencia and Juventus at Estadio Mestalla on September 19, 2018 in Valencia, Spain. (Manuel Queimadelos Alonso / Getty Images)

Juan Pimiento90 MINUTES

Cristiano Ronaldo's short Juventus debut in the Champions League ended in tears, Liverpool and PSG faced off in a high-profile affair at Anfield, Real Madrid and Barcelona dominated while Manchester City stumbled in this week's action in the world of soccer.

Cristiano Ronaldo's short Juventus debut in the Champions League ended in tears, Liverpool and PSG faced off in a high-profile affair at Anfield, Real Madrid and Barcelona dominated while Manchester City stumbled in this week's action in the world of soccer.

The glorious sounds of the Champions League anthem permeated the wide world of soccer for the first time, bringing joy to some and tears to others.

This week, the most important club competition in the world returned for another season with Cristiano Ronaldo’s bitter debut with Juventus, Liverpool’s marquee victory over PSG and a whole host of results from around Europe.

This, plus the return of the Europa League featuring Chelsea, Arsenal, AC Milan and others, in this midweek edition of 90 Minutes’ Top Five.

1. Tearful debut

Manuel Queimadelos Alonso / Getty Images

Cristano Ronaldo of Juventus reacts after his red card during the Group H match of the UEFA Champions League between Valencia and Juventus at Estadio Mestalla on September 19, 2018 in Valencia, Spain.

Cristano Ronaldo of Juventus reacts after his red card during the Group H match of the UEFA Champions League between Valencia and Juventus at Estadio Mestalla on September 19, 2018 in Valencia, Spain. (Manuel Queimadelos Alonso / Getty Images)

Cristiano Ronaldo’s Champions League debut with Juventus was going to be headline-worthy in itself.

Never would anyone imagine the talk coming out of his first European game with the Serie A champs.

The Portuguese had a debut to forget in Wednesday’s match between Juve and Valencia at Mestalla, only lasting 29 minutes before seeing a controversial red card from referee Felix Brych.

Such was the frustration and sheer anguish inside Ronaldo, it drove him to tears as he vociferously asked for an explanation of the unexpected and rare red card.

Even worse, the situation may cost Ronaldo more than one game in the group stage, leaving Juventus with their most prized investment for this Champions League campaign.

2. Red state

Julian Finney / Getty Images

Daniel Sturridge of Liverpool celebrates with team mates after scoring the first goal during the Group C match of the UEFA Champions League between Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain at Anfield on September 18, 2018 in Liverpool, United Kingdom.

Daniel Sturridge of Liverpool celebrates with team mates after scoring the first goal during the Group C match of the UEFA Champions League between Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain at Anfield on September 18, 2018 in Liverpool, United Kingdom. (Julian Finney / Getty Images)

The first blockbuster battle between two of the tournament’s title contenders went the way last season’s runner-up.

They needed a stoppage-time goal to do it, but Liverpool took an early advantage in a tough Group C by defeating Paris Saint-Germain, 3-2 at Anfield on Tuesday.

The clash of two of Europe’s most powerful attacks featured plenty of goals but a clear gap between the Reds and the Parisians. Even after one game, PSG is feeling the heat back at home because of the performance, especially that of Neymar’s, who has taken the brunt of the criticism.

For Liverpool, the result confirms their status as a candidate to take the trophy this season with even more weapons at Jurgen Klopp’s disposal compared to last season’s squad.

Watch out.

3. Best of the rest

OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP/Getty Images

Real Madrid's Spanish midfielder Isco (2L) celebrates the opening goal with teammates during the UEFA Champions League group G football match between Real Madrid CF and AS Roma at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on September 19, 2018.

Real Madrid's Spanish midfielder Isco (2L) celebrates the opening goal with teammates during the UEFA Champions League group G football match between Real Madrid CF and AS Roma at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on September 19, 2018. (OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP/Getty Images)

Life at Real Madrid without Cristiano Ronaldo could not be better, at least for the time being.

The defending champions put on the most impressive display of anyone this week, dominating Roma on route to a 3-0 victory at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday. Their rivals, Barcelona, went from neutral to overdrive to rout PSV, 4-0, with a hat-trick by Lionel Messi (more on that later) taking all the headlines.

Speaking of stealing headlines, how about Lyon? The French side returned to the Champions League with a bang, standing up to and defeating none other than Manchester City at the Etihad, 2-1, as the suspended Pep Guardiola watched from the stands. Across town, Manchester United took care of business in Switzerland, defeating Young Boys, 3-0, with two goals from Paul Pogba.

Another team returning to the competition is Inter, who celebrated with a comeback victory over Tottenham, 2-1 thanks to Matias Vecino, the man whose goal put Inter back in the Champions League. The same result was enough for Atletico Madrid to take three points from their visit to Monaco, with Diego Simeone screaming his head off from the stands.

4. Europa night

Henry Browne / Getty Images

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Arsenal celebrates after scoring his team's third goal with Henrikh Mkhitaryan of Arsenal during the UEFA Europa League Group E match between Arsenal and Vorskla Poltava at Emirates Stadium on September 20, 2018 in London, United Kingdom.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Arsenal celebrates after scoring his team's third goal with Henrikh Mkhitaryan of Arsenal during the UEFA Europa League Group E match between Arsenal and Vorskla Poltava at Emirates Stadium on September 20, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. (Henry Browne / Getty Images)

The Europa League also kicked off this week in its group stage with several contenders entering the fray.

Arsenal and Chelsea took care of business in their debuts, as the Gunners earned a comfortable 4-2 victory against Ukrainian side Vorskla and Chelsea, with Eden Hazard unavailable, took away a narrow 1-0 win from their visit to PAOK. The most commanding victory goes to Sevilla, who dominated Standard Liege for a 5-1 thrashing.

It wasn’t easy for AC Milan either, who looked less than impressive in a 1-0 road victory in Luxembourg over Dudelange. Just as unimpressive were their Serie A rivals Lazio did in a 2-1 win over Apollon at the Stadio Olimpico and Bayer Leverkusen, who eeked out a 3-2 victory form Bulgaria against Ludogorets.

Several other prominent sides suffered early setbacks on Thursday. Marseille let a 1-0 lead slip away on route to a 2-1 defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt at the Velodrome, as did Villarreal, who blew a 2-0 lead and had to settle for a 2-2 draw with Steven Gerrard’s Rangers. Real Betis’ scoring drought continues after failing to overcome a 10-man Olympiacos team, while RB Leipzig lost a dramatic Red Bull “derby” to Salzburg, 3-2 in the late stages of the match.

The return of both European competitions brought upon us a plethora of great goals from all around Europe.

After sorting through all of them, Lionel Messi’s first of three goals in Barcelona’s win over PSV on Tuesday stood out the most. The Argentinian, very casually, curled this freekick with perfect precision to an impossible spot for Jeroen Zoet to reach.

This week, the U.S. team announced its new coach, London and Liverpool enjoyed some dramatic derby action and La Liga’s tight races got shaken up once again.

The last month of 2018 is here, and...

A look at the teams who have qualified for the Champions League knockout stage ahead of Monday's draw in Nyon, Switzerland, for the round of 16

(Associated Press)

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CAPTION

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Chicago Fire head coach Veljko Paunovic looked back at the season that ended with a scoreless draw against DC United at Toyota Park Sunday, October 28 (Courtesy of the Chicago Fire).

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